Airship



Patented ct. 6, 1925,

MICHAEL A. SZYMANSKI, OF WARSAW, POLAND.

AIRSHIP.

Application filed May 16, 1925.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, MICHAEL A. SZYMAN- sKI,a citizen of the Republic ofPoland, re-

- siding at Warsaw and Republic of Poland,

have invented new and useful Improvements in Airships, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to airships, and its object is to provide anairship of non-rigid, semi-rigid or rigid type, using rarefied- (heated)air or non-inflammable gas, or. amixture of both, as the inflating andsustaining medium, and, which may be coonomically constructed andoperated.

The invention consists of the features of construction, combination andarrangement of parts,'hereinafter fully describedand claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of an airship embodying my invention, withparts broken away or in section to show interior construction.

Figure 2 is a front end elevation of the same.

Figure 3 is a rear end elevation thereof.

Figure 4 is a vertical transverse section on line 4--4 ofFigure 1.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, 1 designates thesustaining aerostat orenvelope, which may be of any ordinary form asemployed in craft of this character, and made of suitable air and gastight fabric. At its forward end or nose the aerostat 1 is provided withan anchor ring 2 for connection with an anchor line, and at its rear endthe aerostat is provided with a vertical rudder 3 and a horizontalrudder 4 for steering and balancing pur-- poses. The envelope may beprovided with the usual exterior netting, throughout the whole or anydesired part thereof, and fixed stability fins of any proper locationmay be employed, if desired. I 1

The interior of the aerostat or envelope is divided by transversepartitions 5 to provide compartments 6 to hold the inflating medium, andthese partitions may be valved or other suitable provision made for therestricted flow of the inflating medium from one compartment to anotherfor trimming or pressure equalizing purposes, in order that the envelopemay be maintained properly taut or distended at all points. In practice,the envelope may be of double envelope type, embodying an inner envelopeSerial No. 30,770.

and an outer cover, the inner envelope be ing divided by the partitions5 into the compartments 6, and any suitable means for charging thecompartments with the inflating medium may be employed.

The frame structure of the craft includes the partitions 5, or portionsthereof, and a keel 7, which are suitably united, and properly tied andbraced, and to which keel the envelope and its netting are suitablysecured. The keel and partitions, or portions of the latter may be madein practice ofduralumin, or other suitable light and strong metal, andthe extent of this framing may be increased to any extent desiredaccording to the type of ship which is to be produced, whether ofnon-rigid, semirigid-or rigid type.

Suspended from the framework and the netting of the envelope are one ormore cars 8 and 9, made in whole or part of dural lumin or othersuitable light and strong material. The car 8 is positioned at ornear'the bow of the craft and may serve as the pilots car in which thesteering controls for operating the rudders 3 and 4 are arranged. Oneorrnore of the cars 9 may be used at or about the center of the craft oramidship. In the present instance two cars 9 are sho-wn arranged side byside, the car 8 being disposed below the forward compartment 6 and thecars 9 below the center compartment 6. These cars '8 and 9 may, ifdesired, also serve as quarters for the 0fficersof the craft. The cars10 and -11 are also shown suspended from the framework and netting,the'car 10 being positioned between the cars 8 and 9 and the car 11 inrear of the cars 9,'and respectively belowthe compartments 6 immediatelyin front and rear of the center compartment. These cars 10 and 11 may besuitably constructed to hold provisions, fuel, ballast, and othersupplies, and may also provide quarters for the crew and passengerscarried, if any. The cars 8 and 9 depend below the cars 10 and 11 andmay be provided on their bottoms with pneumatic or other suitablecushioning bumpers 12 to sustain and cushion any shocks of impact inlanding operations.

Any suitable means for propelling the craft may be employed, drivingpropellers 13 located on the cars 8 and 9 being shown in the presentinstance. These are driven by internal combustion motors 14, such asgasoline or Diesel engines of suitable power.

The inflating and sustaining medium which I contemplate employing may beatmospheric air properly rarefied or heated, or a non-inflammable gaslighter than air and also capable of being heated and rare fied, or amixture of both in proper proportions, and suitable means are providedfor heating and maintaining in rarefied condi tion the inflating medium.The means employed for this purposeconsists of an electric heater 15arranged within each compartment 6. Each of these heaters consists of aframing of duralumin or other light metal and an electrical resistance16 designed to furnish a high degree of heat with a comparatively lowcurrent consumption. This resistance may consist of a resistance coil ofnichrome, or other resistance wire having similar properties, embeddedin a highly refractory material of great efficiency, such as micanite.The resistance is suitably supported by the heater framing, which isfixed to the keel 7 and sustention elements of the underlying car.Current is supplied to the electrical resistance by suitable conductorsfrom electric generators or dynamos 17 located in the cars 8 and 9 anddriven by the same motors 1 1 which drive the propellers 13, andsuitable switch mechanism and governing means may be employed inpractice to regulate the amount of current supplied to the electricalresistance as desired in order to control the amount of heat supplied tothe compartment 6, and to vary the amount supplied to any of thecompartments with respect to the others as may be necessary to keep theenvelope properly distended under different conditions of service. Thecompartments being charged with atmospheric air, or a non-inflammablegas, or a mixture of both to a certain degree, rarefaction and expansionof the inflating medium may be effected by setting the heating elementsinto operation to distend the envelope to the desired degree forsustention purposes and for any trimming actions which may be requiredwhen the craft is in flight. By varying the amount of heat applied tothe inflating medium. and to the different portions thereof in thedifferent compartments, the envelope may be kept distended to any degreeand the heat values raised or lowered, as may be required, for greaterrarefaction to compensate for any loss of the inflating medium or toeffect its contraction to di- .minish the buoyancy of the craft to anydesired extent for the purpose ofsecuring a rapid descent or to assistin landing operations. Fixed to the keel and frame of the heater withineach compartment is a gauze or woven wire shield 18, which encloses theheating unit, and prevents any possiblecontact of any part of theenvelope with the I the use of an inflating medium, such as air or anon-inflammable gas, or a mixture of air with such a gas which-may berarefied as desired by means of my improved heating means, effectivedistention of the balloon envelope for sustention may be maintained at acomparatively low'cost as compared with full charges of a rare gas, suchas helium gas, and without the danger incident to the use of hydrogenand other like gases. By independently controlling the amount of heatgenerated in each compartment, efficient trimming and controllingactions dependent upon the degree of expansion of the inflating mediummay also be secured.

Having thus fully "described my invention, I claim 1. An airshipembodying an inflatable envelope and a framework including a keel, saidenvelope being subdivided into separate charge containing compartments,cars secured to the keel, electric heaters within the compartmentshaving their frames fixed to the keel, propelling means on the cars, andcurrent generators for the heaters driven by said propelling means.

2. An airship embodying an inflatable envelope and a framewark includinga keel, said envelope being subdivided into separate charge containingcompartments, cars secured, to the keel, electric heaters within thecompartments having their frames fixed to the keel, a foraminous shieldin each compartment enclosing the heating unit therein, propelling meanson the cars, and current generators for the heaters driven by saidpropelling means.

3. An airship embodying an inflatable envelope and a framework includinga keel and partitions, said partitions subdividing said envelope intocharge containing compartments, cars secured to the keel, heater framessecured to the keel and carrying electrical heating units arranged inthe compartments, a foraminous shield fixed to the heater frame in eachcompartment and enclosing the heating unit, propelling means on thecars, and current generators for the heaters driven by said propellingmeans.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

MICHAEL A. SZYMANSKI.

